How to Compare Scanners

Epson Scanner

Computer scanners give you the ability to directly transfer documents or photographs to your computer. Once the documents are transferred you can then edit them with photo editing software or send them off to your friends in an email. There are a large range of scanners available on the market and each of them comes with a different price tag. Before making your final decision you will want to make sure you have properly compared all the different scanner options.

Instructions

1. Note down your computer's hardware specifications before comparing scanners to make sure you pick a scanner that is compatible with your machine. Open up the Start bar and click on "Control Panel" and then "System" to find the specifications you will need.

2. Write down the processor speed, hard drive space and amount of RAM available on your computer. Consider what types of images you will be scanning, such as text documents, photographs, slides, or book pages that have pictures.

3. Check the resolution of the scanner. Choose a scanner with a higher resolution if you will be scanning primarily photographs or images with many different colors. Remember that a higher resolution will also mean that you will be able to make the scanned image larger without losing clarity.

4. Take note of the size of the scanner's tray. Consider if you will need a scanner that has a tray large enough to scan over sized documents or if it can only fit normal 8 1/2 X 11-inch documents.

5. Look to see if the scanner has a separate area for feeding in multiple slides at once. Most scanners have the ability to scan slides, but if you have many different slides that need to be scanned you may want the extra slide feeding feature for quicker and higher quality scanning.

6. Find out what type of connector the scanner uses. Most scanners will use a standard USB port, but others may have different types of connectors that may not be compatible with your computer.

7. Check the minimum hardware requirements on the back of the scanner's packaging. Compare them to the computer specifications you wrote down earlier to make sure the scanner will work with your system.

Tips & Warnings

• If you also need a printer and a copier you may want to consider a multi-function machine that prints, scans, and copies. Some multi-function machines also include faxing capabilities.

References

• Comparing Scanners
• Choosing a Photo Scanner